Picnic at Hanging Rock

St. Valentines Day 1900. A party of schoolgirls set out from an exclusive boarding school to go on a picnic at Hanging Rock, an awe-inspiring and sacred Aboriginal site. During the heat of the afternoon, four girls decided to climb higher into the rock but one turned back and told a teacher who then followed the others. The women who went up onto the rock disappeared and despite exhaustive searches were never found, bar one girl, who had no recollection of anything that had happened to her.

This is not a true story, but is handled so as to give the impression that it uses facts as a starting block from where to start dealing with uneasy and delicate subjects such as the strain between seftlers and Aborigines, and the suggestions of sexual repression.

The soft focus, exquisite photography, and unusual lighting effects create a dream-like atmosphere which is far more disorienting than sentimental. There are no conclusions offered as to what might have happened that day, leaving one's imagination to run wild with slight suggestions of haunting mysticism.

Review by Julia Monelle
Taken from EUFS Programme 1994-95